The H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and
Apparel (HKRITA) have announced the opening of two textile recycling
facilities which will put HKRITA’s hydrothermal method for recycling cotton
and polyester blends to use. Blends are the most used type of textile in
the world -- yet, they are still unrecyclable.

“This is a
significant step towards a new fashion industry that operates within the
planetary boundaries”, said Erik Bang, Innovation Lead at H&M Foundation,
in a statement. “As we scale up and make this technology freely available
to the industry, we will reduce the dependence on limited natural resources
to dress a growing global population”.

H&M and HKRITA added that the
purpose of the facilities is to invite fashion companies and their
stakeholders to see, test and implement the technology. “HKRITA will
license the results widely to make it available to all and enable a bigger
impact”, read the joint statement.

The facilities will also feature
a miniaturized garment-to-garment recycling system which will be open to
the public. At the end of the visit, shoppers will be able to buy the
recycled garments. “Seeing is believing, and when customers see with their
own eyes what a valuable resource garments at the end of life can be, they
can also believe in recycling”, pondered Bang.

The facilities will
be located at the Novetex Factory in Tai Po Industrial Estate, Hong Kong.
The opening date has not been disclosed. The H&M Foundation is set to
invest 5.8 million euro (approximately 7 million US dollars) in the
project, over the next four years.

HKRITA and the H&M Foundation have
been partners since 2016. H&M intends to spend a total of 30 million euros
in joint textile recycling projects between 2016 and 2020.